About Mr. Karp

Mr. Karp is a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent-rated and AVVO 10.0 Superb-rated lawyer who exclusively practices animal law throughout the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Having graduated from Gonzaga University with a B.A. Honors, and University of Washington with a J.D. and M.S. in statistics, this is his seventeenth year actively practicing law. He estimates having evaluated and/or handled over 3750 animal law cases to date.

Mr. Karp founded and served as first chair of the Washington State Bar Association's Animal Law Section in 2002 and has held executive committee positions since its formation. He founded the Idaho State Bar Association’s Animal Law Practice Section in 2012 and continues to serve on its executive committee. In 2015, he became an executive committee member of the Oregon State Bar Association’s Animal Law Section. He has also served in a vice chair position of the American Bar Association’s (“ABA”) Animal Law Committee since its formation in 2004.

Mr. Karp served six years as a contributing editor of the Animal Legal Report, produced by Animal Legal Reports Services, regularly writes on the topic of animal law, and routinely speaks around the nation about animal law, including at Yale, Harvard, Vanderbilt, and Vermont Law School. He has taught and continues to teach animal law at the University of Washington School of Law since 2004 and Seattle University School of Law since 2003. In 2014, he began teaching as a lecturer on animal law at Edmonds Community College. He has been quoted in TIME, the National Law Journal, the ABA Journal, and other periodicals, including a dedicated article on his practice in the Seattle Times,Seattle Weekly,Pacific NW Magazine, and Seattle Magazine.

The American Bar Association's Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section's Animal Law Committee's annual Excellence in the Advancement of Animal Law Award recognizes exceptional work by an Animal Law Committee member who, through commitment and leadership, has advanced the humane treatment of animals through the law. Mr. Karp received this award in 2012.

Mr. Karp has co-authored the ABA Tort and Insurance Practice Section’s Survey on Animal Tort and Insurance Law for seven consecutive years, published three articles in Thomson West’s Causes of Action series pertaining to injuries to animals by animals, intentional injuries to animals by humans, and Section 1983 claims involving injury to an animal; two annotations in American Legal Reports pertaining to preconviction and postconviction forfeiture of animals and private prosecution of crimes; one article in the legal encyclopedia American Jurisprudence Trials pertaining to veterinary malpractice litigation; co-authored one article in the legal encyclopedia American Jurisprudence Proof of Facts related to defending dangerous dog classifications; authored an annotation on custodial disputes pertaining to animals in American Jurisprudence Proof of Facts; and completed an annotation on use of force against animals (as well as animals used as force) in Am.Jur. Trials. Mr. Karp is scheduled to complete an annotation on litigation service animal access disputes later this year. Lastly, LexisNexis has contracted with Mr. Karp to produce the book Understanding Animal Law, as part of its Understanding series.

He has chaired several animal law continuing legal education (“CLE”) conferences hosted by the WSBA, spoken at over fifty CLEs around the nation, all on the subject of animal law, including in New Mexico, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Florida.

Since first joining a superior court arbitration panel in 2006, he has been appointed arbitrator over fifteen times. Mr. Karp now sits on such panels in Mason, Thurston, Kitsap, Pierce, King, Snohomish, Skagit, and Whatcom Counties. Mr. Karp also has served as a mediator for-hire to resolve animal-related disputes.

Mr. Karp serves as an advisory board member for the Center for Wildlife Ethics. He also volunteered his time to the Northwest Wildlife & Rehabilitation Center, now part of the Whatcom Humane Society. Mr. Karp has completed a life-changing 10-day course at the Vipassana Northwest Center and practices Vipassana meditation twice daily.

Mr. Karp and his wife have been vegan for sixteen and twenty-four years, respectively, and care for three cats, ages 5, 7, and 19.

DISCLAIMER: By accessing this site, you agree to hold the law office of Adam P. Karp harmless and assume any risk that the linked information might be outdated or dead. You are encouraged to contact the clerk or code reviser of the municipality in which you are searching for the most current animal laws. The links below will take you to the nearest general webpage for the requested information. You may need to drill down by clicking one or more successive hotlinks until you reach the pertinent code titles and chapters. Key search terms for locating the appropriate code include “Animal,” “Cruelty,” “(Potentially) Dangerous,” “Nuisance,” “Kennel,” and “Cattery.”